La Roche Wins Conference Opener, Twenty-Eighth Straight AMCC Victory

La Roche Wins Conference Opener, Twenty-Eighth Straight AMCC Victory

STEUBENVILLE, OH -- The La Roche women's basketball team opened AMCC Conference play with a 73-57 victory over Franciscan on Wednesday evening. The victory is the Redhawks' twenty-eighth straight in AMCC Conference play and they improve to 2-3 on the season.

Darrian Johnson hit a pair of three pointers and scored eight first quarter points. Franciscan however hit a three-pointer near the end of the quarter and led 18-14 after ten minutes.

The difference in the second quarter came on the defensive end. The Redhawks held Franciscan without a field goal over the first seven minutes and to just two buckets in the quarter.

Johnson continued to shoot the ball well hitting two three-pointers in thirteen seconds including the first which gave La Roche the lead. A Johnson layup with 3:27 left in the half put the Redhawks ahead by eight but Franciscan cut it back to three under a minute.

Nia Thomas drained a three just before the half and the Redhawks entered intermission ahead 31-25.

Johnson and Jazmyne Boyd each hit threes as the Redhawks ran their lead to double-digits in the third quarter.

Franciscan began to chip away and eventually cut it to just four with 1:07 left in the third. Jenna Cole provided the answer with a three and Nicole Boda hit a shot at the buzzer for a 51-42 lead after three.

Two straight layups allowed Franciscan to get within six but La Roche scored 11 of 14 to take control of the game. The run was highlighted by a Nia Thomas steal which she converted into an "and-1".

Johnson hit two layups over the game's final thirty seconds and the Redhawks cruised to the sixteen point win.

Johnson scored 22 points and hit 9 of 13 shots. Nia Thomas (14 points) Cole (12 points) and Stephanie Thomas (10 points) all reached double-digit points.

The Redhawks will travel to Pitt-Bradford on Saturday for an AMCC Conference game. Tip is 4pm.